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Matt Rye
Matt Rye 'is the main protagonist of the ''Someone Else series, a Vault Hunter with an ability called 'Chronokinesis, '''which allows him to control time at will. He explains this as a manipulation of the time-stream through the control of the red end of the Infinity Spectrum. Maya described it as a "Siren-level ability". Matt gave himself the title of "the Anomaly" based on its abnormal status as a half-Siren, which Lilith adamantly claims should be impossible. The Anomaly frequently questioned the world around him, with a struggling morality, bolstered by the death of his sister. Childhood Matt was born on the war-torn planet of Darios, shortly after a treaty, or as he believed, a "non-aggression pact", formed between the multiple governments that ran the various continents of Darios. He was born to a lawyer, Deborah, and a police officer, Nicholas. Much like other higher-class families, the Rye family lived on the continent of Krolantia in its central leisure hive, Acropolis. Matt was mostly confined to the city as the stretches beyond the city were largely barren, due to the countless wars the planet suffered from. As a result, Matt was cut off from most of the outside world, and was only allowed to experience simulations with it, using the virtual reality technology in the city. His parents refused to pay him or his sister sufficient attention, and relegated their care to swift and impersonal responses, rather than parental care. They didn't bat much of an eye towards them, instead allowing them to do their own thing, not necessarily caring what they got up to unless it might end up killing them. At such a young age, and because they didn't see them often enough, it was difficult for the two to gain opinions of their parents. Although, Matt later speculated that they were forced not to pay attention to them, as they wanted to provide them with the best possible future financially, and that they were at least concerned in keeping them alive. Matt and his sister Amelia became very close over the years, due to his parent's neglectful treatment of him. He was forced to grow up fast so that he could raise Amelia himself, but at the cost of his own wellbeing - which he was more than willing to give up. Amelia consistently worried that her very existence was worsening Matt's health. Finding the Ravine A curious being who hated being cooped up in their fancy penthouse, Amelia frequently sneaked out of Acropolis to the accessible borders of Krolantia. On one particular day when he was eight and his sister was six, Matt accompanied her across the barren valleys of the small continent. He initially believed the exploration was pointless, as there was nothing to find, but he could never gain the wherewithal to talk down to his sister about it. Truthfully, he liked a bit of adventure himself. While looking through a small glacial trough, Amelia and Matt spotted a small creature, which confused both of them as the area was largely populated by flora. Identifying the creature as a Futarian Goblin, a lizard that reportedly went extinct years prior, the Darosians chased after it, through the valleys, after realising that the Goblin must have had some suitable source of food to survive. The valley gave way to a small spring around a mile across, completely intact, despite how the continent had previously been decimated by weaponry. Both of them noticed the small river running through it, where animals feasted and drank. Astounded, Matt and Amelia decided to enjoy this discovery, and messed about with the water, before finally resting down and reveling in the experience. After a conversation about the possibility of more springs existing on Darios, Amelia briefly mentioned that "the only water in the forest is the river", a mantra his sister would use to communicate with him. The ravine was later destroyed when government nationalists tried to regenerate the area, but ended up accelerating auxin production unevenly within the plants, resulting in them growing incorrectly. Teenager Years Training Recognising that the treaty between the Darosian governments was beginning to break down, Matt realised that his family and way of life was in jeopardy, since leisure hives were more likely to be targeted in event of war, generally as an act of independence and proof of how far other governments would go to win the war. Not wanting his sister to be hurt, Matt spent his teenager years training his fighting skills and gun proficiency, often joining Tediore military introduction programs to gain some perspective on military combat and tactics. While Amelia herself objected to Matt's calling, the Anomaly ensured her that he intended to return no matter what and that he was doing it save her from conflict. He was later proven correct when the treaty completely dissolved, and the governments went into war. Joining the Krolantian Military Order At the turn of 16, Matt became of age to join the KMO, the military service of Krolantia. Training was especially difficult for him, despite his prior military experience, as his mentor recognised his potential and so began pushing him further than his limits. Due to the Order's hapless incompetency, Matt went through many near-death experiences where there were many times he genuinely believed the only way to achieve victory was to die in the process. The fact that he was one of the youngest ever recruits additionally made every mission feel more like suicide. Many KMO assignments went south very quickly, and full-scale battles took extreme precision to win. Stalemate was highly probable, due to both sides possessing the same technology, which they had attained during a treaty period. KMO advised against compromises, believing fiercely through the motto they coined that "stalemate is a compromise". Rather, they believed soldiers should fight until their dying breath, because it was 'right' to die for a good cause, in the same vein of ''dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. Matt frequently quarreled with his mentor over this belief, because he saw it as encouraging pyrrhic victories, which would ultimately null the point of an army to begin with. Gemini involvement Towards the end of Matt's time with the Krolantian Military Order, he had begun to make a name for himself, both on the planet and other planets in his solar system. As such, he attracted the attention of Gemini, whom believed his extensive military service made him an ideal candidate for employment within the corporation. Gemini intervened with the civil war on Darios, bringing it to an end by negotiating a new treaty under improved laws and additional conditions to follow. Within hours of the corporation broadcasting the new truce across the planet, all the governments replied with a cease fire. As a result, Matt had no reason to continue his service with the KMO, so he left the Order and returned home to his sister. Once the Anomaly returned home, Gemini contacted him for employment. They claimed that he had earned a significant reputation for himself and offered him a high salary under the basis that he be prepared to be away from his family often. Matt initially refused, arguing that he had no intention of continuing in the military, as he had only done it to keep his sister safe. It was then that Gemini promised him that they would protect his family and provide them enough money to survive, and showed him proof that his parents' income would not be bale to provide for them much longer. Coerced, Matt joined Gemini as a covert special ops officer. Meeting Axton and the Bomb Matt soon realised that Gemini was a lot more effective than the KMO, however he found it difficult to keep up with the older veterans of the corporation. Training was extensive, but he managed to succeed in impressing several of his compatriots, and he soon became known as one of the most effective spec-ops soldier in the past few decades. Eventually, Matt was upgraded to a higher regiment. There, he met Axton, the Commando, who was acting as Gemini's Dahl liaison, despite the rivalry between the two corporations. They worked together several times, until eventually Axton recommended him for the Gemini Vault Hunter Training Program, so that he would be moved to the proper Vault Hunter regiment. Before this happened though, both of them were tasked with secure a Maliwan warehouse and diffuse the bomb inside. Axton was given the role of diffusing the bomb, while Matt secured the perimeter. However, the Commando found that the bomb was too complex to diffuse, so instead warned his ally to get as far from the building as possible. Gemini operatives prevented him for going after him, resulting in the bomb exploded which leveled the building. Matt survived, but Axton was believed dead for two months. Becoming a Vault Hunter When Matt turned 18, he entered the Gemini Vault Hunter Training Program, but took several breaks to visit his family. Unfortunately, when he returned home, many of the citizens of Acropolis had grown to hate him, due to their major distrust of corporate entities like Gemini. While the corporation had brought in the recent era of peace, many citizens began to suspect that they had some ulterior motive for doing this, as other corporations seldom took notice of the civil wars on Darios. Towards the end of the training program, Matt drew the attention of Hyperion, due to his alarmingly effective missions and skill. They initially demanded the pre-Vault Hunter for themselves, claiming that they could train them better. Gemini refused their partner's offer, as they wanted to keep the young potential for themselves. At the culmination of his training, Matt became a fully-fledged Vault Hunter, at age 18. He pursued this career for several months, and was moved to the Vault Hunter regiment to work with. When faced with the decision of a Vault Hunter title, Matt chose the title of 'the Anomaly, ''given how his status as entirely basically human (with no identifiable action skill) was strange among his compatriots, whom possessed unnatural abilities, yet he was still able to keep up with them - greatly impressing Commander Sharp. The Death of Amelia Rye Eventually, Hyperion apparently grew bitter at Gemini's reluctance to hand the Anomaly over, so they chose to kidnap him for a project: the Genisys Project. On a return trip to his home in Acropolis, Hyperion sent an assassin to tail him. When he got home, the assassin followed and attacked both him and his sister. The assassin was given orders to make it seem as though he intended to kill Matt, and as such shot at him several times. Ultimately, the assassin shot Amelia through the head intentionally (although he made it seem otherwise), killing her instantly, right in front of Matt. Matt, stricken with grief and shock, was easily subdued and kidnapped. The Genisys Project Matt was taken to Helios, whereupon he was experimented on with saws and lasers to augment his physicality to beyond human capabilities. He witnessed the deaths of countless other test subjects, whom Hyperion only viewed as collateral. Matt was unable to do anything but watch. Hyperion used Angel's blood, infused with a mysterious type of energy, to alter Matt's DNA at a cellular level, granting him Siren powers in the process, and becoming a Siren-human hybrid. This granted him the power of Chronokinesis, and allowed him to tap into an otherworldly dimension. Before Hyperion could implement any brainwashing, he escaped. Blinded by his fury and trauma, the Anomaly slaughtered the entirety of Sub-Level Thirteen of Helios. Finding Home Upon escaping from Hyperion's clutches, Matt immediately left for Darios, stowing away from a one-passenger hypership and warping home. He went to find his parents in Acropolis, however once they found him, they rejected him and blamed him for Amelia's death, going as far as to disown their own son. They expelled him from Acropolis, before demanded he leave the planet. Aided by a significantly large mob, Matt was forced to leave Darios and find somewhere else to live. He used his small hypership to quickly warp across the solar system, from Darios to Atrios-6, considered the Darosian "cousin" planet. A stranger among the citizens, Matt was able to blend in without the baggage of his past, and avoid judgement of others. At some point after settling on Atrios-6, the Anomaly met a woman who also claimed to be a Vault Hunter. Her name was Aurora Lux, who he recognised as a member of the primary regiment of Gemini's Vault Hunters. Aurora relented at this, and informed him she had been relegated to a lower echelon of the corporation, following an incident on a mission where two Vault Hunters were killed. The remaining Vault Hunters forced her down from Vault Hunter to spec-ops, at the same time Matt moved up from spec-ops to Vault Hunter. She was ordered to take a leave of absence on Atrios-6, her home. The two of them quickly became friends as they worked to earn enough money for Matt to get a proper home, and for Aurora to get her own, rather than living with her parents. Gemini eventually found the both of them and offered them a place as Vault Hunters once again, absolved of any and all wrongdoings and thus given a clean slate. Annoyed that Gemini considered the Genisys Project to be his fault, Matt initially refused, but Aurora convinced him to join under the basis that they both be provided a home. Commander Sharp, the header of the offer, agreed and offered them a permanent home at the Gemini main space station, the CCG. Agreeing, Matt and Aurora were transported to the CCG, and underwent training and therapy to return them back to suitable health. Both of them were assigned to Matt's previous regiment, consisting of Caine Brooke, Duke Minoosh, Violet Parker, Arcturus Vaus and Aurora's cousin, Daniel Marx. Final Months of Gemini Service Matt continued to work for Gemini, using his new ability of Chronokinesis to achieve an edge over his allies. Intrigued by the power, Gemini spent months researching and experimenting with Matt's powers, trying to discover the root of the ability. Eventually, they discovered a new form of energy, which Matt expelled from his body when using Chronokinesis, although they did not know the origin of this energy or how or why he could release it. His increase in power drew the attention of Caine Brooke, who was initially believed to be the most powerful Vault Hunter of the regiment. Caine grew a severe dislike towards the Anomaly, due to his egocentric attitude causing him to think Matt was below him, despite the fact that their missions proved otherwise. Frustrated, Caine declared Matt as his rival and that he would do everything to outdo him. Axton's Return It was during this time, that Gemini found Axton on Divaloca, alive and well. They informed Matt of this, but proceeded to tell him that the Commando had turned against the corporation, and intended to destroy it, likely from the inside - until Gemini realised his betrayal. Believing strongly that Axton was a danger to both himself and others, Matt went with Caine to bring the Commando in, or kill him if absolutely necessary. Upon finding him, Matt attacked Axton and tried to subdue him. During the fight, the Commando attempted to convince the Anomaly that Gemini had been deceiving him, and that they intended to use his Chronokinesis to subjugate the galaxy and take it over in an attempt to "unify" the four sectors of the galaxy. Matt refused to believe this, arguing that Gemini was the only family he'd ever known since the death of his sister, and that he did not want to lose what he'd developed over the previous year. Realising that Matt's trauma had justifiably made him delusional, Axton gave up trying to convince him and instead began planning his escape. He used the Anomaly's ECHOear against him by activating a short-wavelength vibration burst from his turret that was picked up by the ECHOear and amplified in the Vault Hunter's ear. Collapsing from the noise, Matt was unable to pursue after Axton as he escaped. A New Vault Following Axton's disappearance from the Gemini Sub-Wave Frequency, which they used to communicate and as radar, the corporation turned their attentions towards a new discovery. Months later, Matt was informed that Gemini had reason to believe that a third Vault lay secretly on Pandora, and that they wanted to find it under the nose of Hyperion and the resistance known as the Crimson Raiders. The Anomaly was subsequently given further teaching on the history of Vaults, mainly that this new Vault was believed to be unlike the latter two on the planet, and undetectable from almost every means of tracking. Commander Sharp refused to explain to Matt how they came about this information. When he suggested they try to get help from the Vault Hunters who found the other two Vaults, Gemini lied to him and claimed that all the Vault Hunters were long-dead, and that the Vaults had actually been hunted and vanquished centuries prior. According to the corporation, no more Vault Hunters remained on Pandora. Once the Anomaly realised the endless possibilities of using the technology and knowledge within the Vault, and wondered what exactly Gemini intended to do with it. Leaving Gemini After the Genisys Project, small seeds of doubt and distrust formed within the Anomaly's mind, as he questioned why Gemini refused to pay the ransom Hyperion was bargaining for to return Matt safely and opted to allow him to be experimented on, before claiming the incident was Matt's fault. These feelings were only bolstered after his fight with Axton. Over the months, Matt began to have exceedingly suspicious concerns about Gemini, as he slowly began to digest and re-evaluate what the Commando had said to him. The final straw came when Matt accessed a restricted file in the CCG database, and he discovered that Gemini wanted to take over the universe and enforce a new regime where they would run the whole galaxy under one single government. Realising that they intended to use the Vault to aid in their galactic conquest, Matt resolved to get to the Vault before Gemini did. Aware that Gemini would not let Matt leave, he chose to stow away on a spare hypership in the CCG flight bay, using his Chronokinesis to avoid cameras. Before the Anomaly did this, Matt informed his best friend, Aurora, of his intention to leave. Angry and confused, Aurora begged him not to leave, but the Anomaly claimed to her it wasn't a choice, it was is duty to prevent Gemini from succeeding in their machinations. Aurora stormed off but ultimately decided not to stop him. As a result, the Anomaly left for Pandora, only to be pursued by his rival, Caine Brooke. Exploration of Pandora Searching the Continents Several months before his 21st birthday, Matt began exploring Pandora, searching for the Vault using tracking software that Gemini developed, called Vault Instincts. Matt was forced to move around quickly, lest Caine find him and forcibly return him to Gemini. Supposedly, the Anomaly found at least one of the prior Vaults, although which one he never specified, and this likely was why he was able to figure out how to open Vaults, when Gemini did not teach him. Eventually, the Vault Hunter narrowed down his search to northwest coast of Pandora, sector NV0C 12o 21e. Arriving on the coast of the Highlands, close to Opportunity, Matt worked his way towards Overlook, where he met Karima. Karima introduced him to area, which he thanked her for. He even met Mick Zaford, who was still infuriated by his destroyed distillery. After trying one of the last pints of beer remaining, the Anomaly decided to help him and ultimately rebuilds the distillery for him. Helping out Karima Offering him a large wad of cash, Karima asked the Anomaly to hunt some Stalkers and cut their tails off, which she intended to use for experimentation. Although disapproving of such abuse, Matt understood the cause and accepted the task. Positioning himself above Blake's Bridge, the Anomaly sniped down several Stalkers with his Volcano rifle. Paying attention to the Stalkers' impressions on the ground while they were invisible, the Anomaly managed to kill off the rest in rapid succession. Believing the coast to be clear, Matt slowly got up to collect the tails on the Stalkers, however unbeknownst to him, a Badass Pyre Thresher was nearby. The Thresher rose out of the ground behind him, breaking though the stone, and promptly used its tentacles to propel him off the hill and onto the road below. Health severely depleted, the Anomaly hastily shot back at the Thresher with a different weapon, using his Chronokinesis to dodge some of the fiery projectiles at it. The Anomaly successfully defeated the Thresher, due to its flames making it a easy target against the night sky, although he was severely wounded. Matt cut the tails of the Stalkers, before limping through the tunnel towards Overlook to find a hypo to heal his injuries, as he had ran out of them at the time. Returning to Overlook, the Anomaly restocked his supply of hypos and bandages, before handing in the five Stalker tails to Karima. Karima then explained that she intended to use the tails to better understand how the creatures are able to cloak, in hopes she can replicate this feature in Overlook's shield, allowing the settlement to turn invisible and thus avoid the targeting systems of Helios's moonshots. Call from Caine Happy with himself, Matt decided he needed a beer. So, he visited Mick Zaford's bar, The Holy Spirits, who greeted him wholeheartedly with a drink from his replenished distillery. Zaford thanked Matt for his help in restoring his clan's famed bar back to stable growth, but the Anomaly brushed it off as him just doing a duty. While finishing his drink, Matt was alerted to a phone call on his ECHO, and he recognised who the caller was. Promptly, the Anomaly excused himself and went to the bathroom. Exasperated, the Vault Hunter warned the caller that the call was pointless, since anything Matt knew, the caller would know. The caller revealed himself to be Caine Brooke, Matt's rival, and pompously stated that the Vault was his and that his ''Vault Instincts would lead him to the Vault faster than Matt, before ending the call as quickly as it began. Meeting the Crimson Raiders Helping Gaige Matt left the Holy Spirits bar following the call from Caine, deciding that he should get a move on and not waste any time. He then pondered over the possibility that Gemini's claim that all Vault Hunters were dead on Pandora could be false, but had no real reason to believe they would lie about it, since it was to more than just him, and up until that point, Gemini had only lied to him specifically. Proceeding towards the Catch-A-Ride, which yelled at him Scooter's many catchphrases, Matt digistructed a vehicle and climbed inside. However, he was prevented from leaving when he heard the inane yells of a Psycho coming from the Stalker nest nearby. Upon looking into the nest from above, the Anomaly saw numerous bandits circling around a redheaded girl in the corner. Matt jumped down and activated his Chronokinesis, slowing down time as the bandits shot at and threw projectiles at the girl. The Anomaly shoot the first few Marauders in the head, and then bludgeoned the remaining three Psychos to death with their own buzzaxe. He then dispatched the Nomad with his own gun and disposed of the Golliath using his own helmet. After that, the Vault Hunter snapped the necks of the two remaining Marauders (one normal and one Elite) and finally caught the bullets flying through the air and dropped them to the ground. Spotting a stray bullet about to hit the girl, Matt rushed towards the bullet and caught it mere millimetres away from her eye. Stunned, she was unable to inform Matt if she was OK, as he asked, and instead dropped to the ground and cried out in pain. Matt inspected her wound, finding a large piece of shrapnel in her leg, and telling her he would need a few hypos to heal them. He produced a few spare hypos from his pocket, and injected them into her as an anaesthetic and blood clot accelerator, and then slowly pulled out the piece of shrapnel in her leg. The red-haired girl thanked him for his help, and Matt questioned her on how she managed to get a piece of shrapnel in her leg, and got bandits chasing after her in a location largely devoid of bandits. Abashed, she explained that she led the bandits into the Highlands from the Dust, in vehicles which proceeded to blow up in her face. Matt finished up the bandages on her leg and introduced himself. Pleased, the girl responded that her name was Gaige, to which the Anomaly smiled and said that was a nice name. The Anomaly then noticed the Vault Hunter symbol on her belt, and demanded her explain herself; he told her that all Vault Hunters were meant to be dead, as the Gemini Corporation claimed. Gaige replied and told him confidently that this was a lie, and that Vault Hunters were very much alive, before asking him why it was so important. Aghast, Matt rolled up his sleeve to show her his Vault Hunter tattoo. Arriving in Sanctuary After explaining his Chronokinesis, and briefly its origins, Gaige offered to take him to Sanctuary, the last bastion of the resistance, to meet the Vault Hunters that were based there. Matt conjectured over his recklessness in fighting the Pyre Thresher earlier, and tried to convince himself that Pandora was not a place for heroes - something he knew he already instinctively disagreed with, given his choice to help Gaige. He eventually came to the topic of Caine, in that he was glad Caine had gotten to people like Gaige to manipulate her, which he was masterful at and it seemed to him that Gaige would easily fall for it. Gaige interrupted his thought process at this moment to inexplicably ask him about his reluctance to save her, to which he responds that Gemini viewed him as a threat that needed to be neutralised, and not some hero who rescues people. Once they made it to the fast travel, Gaige commented that Axton would like Matt, which caused Matt to become alarmed, but he was cut off by the teleportation of the fast-travel. When they materialised in Sanctuary, Matt finished his sentence about the Commando. Gaige asked him if he knew Axton, to which he replies that they "were like brothers". Gaige proceeded to led him towards Crimson Raider HQ, and Matt was starting to worry that Axton was there. He was reluctant to find out how the Commando would react to seeing him for so long, given the bad terms they parted on. On entering Crimson Raider HQ, Matt saw Professor Tannis, who was too busy musing over her recent experiments of slag on Hyperion test subjects to notice them initially. However, she eventually paused her recording to request that Gaige not bring in "strays" to her workplace. Reaching the top of the stairs, Matt hid behind Gaige, while she announced that she had found another Vault Hunter. Reluctantly, he introduced himself as the Anomaly, and was immediately antagonised by Axton, who appeared in the doorway and demanded what he was doing on Pandora. Ignoring one of his allies' advice to calm down, the Commando accused Matt of having been paid by Gemini to search for his once-ally. Not surprised at Axton's anger, Matt told him that he didn't work for Gemini anymore, but Axton instantly shot this down and punched him across the face, causing him to fall to the ground. While Gaige helped him up, a blue-haired Siren demanded that Axton allow Matt to explain himself properly, rather than jumping to conclusions. Nodding to her respectfully, the Anomaly slowly began to explain how he and Axton knew each other, and the circumstances that led to their departure and reuniting. Axton still refused to believe that Matt had left Gemini, until the Anomaly revealed that he had erased all logs of the Commando on the Gemini database, thus preventing them from finding him. However, he warned him that he had an eye on him. Matt was then introduced to the Vault Hunters in the Crimson Raiders. Lilith introduced herself by burning his hand when he shook hers, and insensitively commenting he had better pain resistance than the Siren expected. Getting Acquainted When prompted by Salvador's proud announcement of his ability to dual wield weapons, Matt described his power to slow time at will, which immediately alerts Maya, as such an ability would be Siren-level power. He then explained how he was experimented on for months by Hyperion to become the ultimate weapon, although the Anomaly confessed he did not remember most of it, so he was unsure how such experiments granted him his ability. Matt disclosed to them that there was another Vault on the continent, one which could not be picked up directly by conventional tracking software, and was apparently left out from the Vault Key's map of the Vaults. He explained why he was on Pandora, to accrue data for his Vault Instincts software so he could eventually pinpoint the Vault's location, and suggested he stay with them for the time being in hopes he would eventually find the Vault on their travels. The topic of where the Anomaly will live was briefly mentioned, whereupon Axton avidly requests that Matt not live near him. Gaige then suggested he live in the vacant house next to hers, where her neighbours had recently moved out, unable to stand the noise of the Mechromancer working on Deathtrap late at night. Initiation into the Crimson Raiders Before Gaige could take him to the building, Lilith ordered Matt to meet with her formally outside Scooter's Garage, and told the remaining Vault Hunters to follow. Matt was brought to the plaza, and was informed that Lilith was the most powerful Siren in the universe and perhaps the most deadly Vault Hunter ever, which only served to stunt his confidence. Gaige quickly figured out that Lilith intended for Matt to train, and help the Raiders if he passed his initiation, for example, helping the Raiders improve their weaponry. The Anomaly responded that he had something in mind for that already, but would not reveal to her what he meant yet. Lilith and Matt gathered on the plaza, and the fight began. The Siren started the fight with a punch to the face, which the Anomaly dodged and countered with a strike to the stomach. In response, she entered her Phasewalk, prompting Gaige to explain her Siren ability. Lilith appeared again, using her orange wings to glide through the air towards the Anomaly. Matt reacted with a fist of red energy. They fought with every punch from one of them being countered by the other, before the Siren eventually entered her Phasewalk once again. Matt began to focus his Chronokinesis, slowing down time around him to gain a greater perception of his surroundings. Using this, he predicted where Lilith would exit Phasewalk next and subdued her as she exited the portal, holding her in a tight headlock. Impressed, Lilith welcomed him into the Crimson Raiders. The Gemini Armoury Accommodation Matt then dropped to the ground weakly, and explained that using Chronokinesis drains him and that his last punch required a lot of power. He briefly wiped the blood of his nose and eased the concerns of Gaige and Salvador over his condition. Lilith then instructed him to get up early next morning, as she had a special assignment for the Anomaly to undertake, before suggesting to Gaige to show the Anomaly his new home in Sanctuary. Gaige then excitedly dragged Matt towards his new home, near Marcus Munitions, and claimed that the Vault Hunter would like it. The Anomaly responded that anywhere comfortable was nice, considering he has spent the previous few weeks living in small motels and caves. Gaige explained that her house, and by extension her terrace, had been upgraded, so it would likely be as comfortable as one might hope. The Mechromancer opened the door and showed Matt its interior. Although a previous resident of Acropolis, and having lived in a penthouse skyscraper, the Anomaly was still greatly impressed by the very lavish and expensive home that he supposed he didn't necessarily need. During his musings, Matt was interrupted by an abrupt hug from Gaige, who desired to thank him again for saving her life. Deathtrap at the time was too damaged operate and she did not want to die due to how much her father worried about her. Instead of taking the acknowledgement, the Vault Hunter instead scolded himself for attempting to control life and death when he had no right to do so. Gaige disregarded this, and awkwardly bid him a good night. During the night, Matt experienced a dream of his experiences during the Genisys Project, and woke up, screaming in a pool of sweat. It was the first nightmare he had had in a while, and he wondered how long it would take for him to fully recover from it. After wiping most of the sweat away, the Anomaly heard his doorbell ring and got dressed to answer it. Working on Deathtrap Opening the door, he found Gaige on the other side, with soot marks on her face where a blast mask had been. She had decided to check on him when she heard screaming coming from her ally's house, and Matt explained his psychological condition. To help him recover a little, the Mechromancer suggested he help her out with her repairs on Deathtrap, which excited the Vault Hunter a little since he hadn't seen her mechanical invention yet. Pleased by Matt's enthusiasm, the Mechromancer took him to her workshop, and showed him her creation. The Anomaly's eyes widened at what an eighteen-year-old had accomplished without much help. When he told her that Deathtrap was impressive, Gaige muttered that it "should've won that science fair", which the Anomaly promptly asked her about. Reluctantly, she began to divulge the details of the science fair she did in high school, where she built a robot that Marcie Holloway copied the blueprints of (incorrectly) yet won due to her father buying off the judges. Matt assured her that she deserved her win, but Gaige solemnly told him that Deathtrap had malfunctioned and murdered Marcie by accident. Empathetically, he comforted her, ensuring her it wasn't her fault although Marcie did not deserve to die, and pointed out that no one in Sanctuary was going to judge her on her past actions so she should not dwell on it. Agreeing with him, weakly, Gaige moved along and told him about the issues she had been having with Deathtrap. Having already finished the main repairs, the Mechromancer hoped the Anomaly would be able to fix the large energy consumption to keep Deathtrap levitated. Matt inspected her about the technology used, and swiftly realised that the Torgue gryojets were the issue, due to the largely ineffective and outdated energy transponder that they used. With no other technology available to her, Gaige had been forced to use it, aware of its drawbacks. Matt solved this using Gemini technology, a Terrestrial Modifier. He explained that Modifiers contained Arc-X aero-jet digistructors, which could be transferred to Deathtrap to allow the robot to digistruct them too. He asked her where the control panel to the robot was, and Gaige pointed to a screwed-on sheet of metal on the back of her invention. Using a screwdriver from a nearby red toolbox, the Vault Hunter unscrewed the panel off, and took apart the Terrestrial Modifier. He unplugged multiple diodes to gain access to aero-jet digistructors and tore out a circuit board to deactivate all the safeguards placed in the device by Gemini mechanics. He tend melded the aero-jet digistructor and Deathtrap circuitry together, with the help of Gaige holding down the bot's anti-friction resistor. Ultimately, his attempt succeeded and Deathtrap was able to digistruct aero-jets that were twice as powerful as gyrojets, but consumed a quarter of the energy. Gaige toppled him over in a hug, at which point Lilith entered the workshop and ordered them to keep the noise down. Gearing Up Lilith complained about Matt's screaming, which the Anomaly opted to accept rather than dispute, however Gaige defended him and explained his PTSD. The Siren ensured him she wasn't mad at him for having PTSD, though she pointed out that it was justifiable for her to want do something about it. Believing Gaige was woken up by Matt as well, the leader of the Crimson Raiders used her as an example of Matt's volatile sleeping patterns affecting others, but the Mechromancer confessed that she had already been awake and had recently been staying up late to work on Deathtrap. Infuriated at this information, Lilith demanded that Gaige get some sleep lest the Siren lose a valuable ally in combat due to fatigue. Lilith then asked Matt to follow her, as she had decided to push forward with her plans to find somewhere where the Raiders could upgrade their weapons. Walking after her, Matt revealed to her that the old Crimson Armoury had been appropriated from Marcus Kincaid by Gemini, and renovated with more durable foundations. With this new information, the Siren ordered Matt to stock up on weapons in the storage vault on the the top floor of Crimson Raider HQ. Upon taking weapons from the Vault and leaving a note about where he and Lilith had gone, the Anomaly was confronted by Axton, who accused him of betraying the Raiders and planning to kill them. Matt adamantly refuted this, trying to explain the mission Lilith had tasked him, but the Commando didn't believe him and proceeded to attack him. Lilith interrupted the situation before Axton could do anything other than pin the Anomaly to wall, and entered Phasewalk before pinning him against wall in the same way he had to Matt. Lilith yelled at him irreverently for disobeying her direct orders and attacking an ally, telling him not to be an asshole and told him to leave. Axton fled immediately. The Siren turned her attention back to Matt, and told him she could teleport them to the Armoury, rather than travel there. After absorbing the Eridium, the Siren transported both of them. Arriving in T-Bone Junction Upon arrival, Matt and Lilith realised they had been teleported to the T-Bone Junction, rather than near the Armoury, so would need to get there some other way. Lamenting in their misfortune, Lilith did not notice what Matt did when he turned around. Bringing her attention to their surroundings, Matt showed her the numerous bodies that lay strewn across the whole area of T-Bone. Inspecting the bodies, the Anomaly recognised the X signs burnt into their faces, which was the preferred mark of Gemini execution. When the Siren questioned why they did this, Matt merely responded that it was because they were in their way. Once they made it to the fast-travel in the Junction, they noticed it was beaten up and broken, so the Anomaly elected to repair it. As he accessed the panel, the machine administered an electric shock, before displaying the Gemini logo on the activation panel. An automated male voice then claimed that the fast travel was property of the Gemini Corporation and that a security firewall had been engaged to prevent further use of the machine. Aware that attempting to resolve the issue himself would likely make it worse, Matt called Gaige and asked her if she could hack into the machine. The Mechromancer confirmed his inquiry and told him to send him the data through his standard ECHO device, rather than his ECHOear. Once Matt had connected his normal ECHO to the fast travel, Gaige's hacking program took over, signified by the skull and crossbones symbol that replaced the Gemini logo on the interaction panel. While simultaneously bickering with Lilith over the Mechromancer's sleeping patterns, Gaige intercepted the Gemini security and granted the two Vault Hunters access to it. Now, they could teleport away when they needed to leave. As Lilith suggested they get a Catch-A-Ride vehicle, both of them heard footsteps and took out their weapons. Multiple Psychos appeared around the corner, making numerous inane comments, forcing the two of them to take action. Once the Psychos were dispatched, the conjecture that there may be more bandits became very possible, so they hurried towards the Catch-A-Ride and digistruct a vehicle. Lilith then told Matt that she would drive, under the basis that she was aware of a shortcut in the form of a highway built of Hyperion built. Travelling through the Fathoms Whilst Lilith drove through the Fathoms, the Anomaly kept an eye out for any Gemini soldiers patrolling the area. Matt then began to wonder who might be stationed at the Gemini Armoury. The Anomaly found himself exceedingly worried that a Vault Hunter who was a past friend of his might show up, as his experiences with Axton proved that it would not take much for your closest friends to turn on you. He was especially concerned that Aurora would be there, or nearby, given the explosive confrontation they had left each other on, however he knew he couldn't afford to get distracted. Along the way, they pass across the light bridge and encounter Gemini Guards patrolling the outpost. They instantly recognised him, and identified Lilith as a Siren, forcing the Anomaly to engage. Once they were disposed of, Matt fistbumped Lilith for their teamwork. Personality Traumatised by both the copious experimentation from Hyperion and the death of his sister, Matt suffered from PTSD after extreme grief overwhelmed him as he blamed himself for her death. His parents disowning him only added to this. It took years before he finally got over the trauma. The Anomaly is very intelligent, though not known for it, and grasps very complicated subjects and is a natural when it comes to technology. He was able to successfully complete the Bypass set to be fully operational, while many mechanics at Gemini could not. He is also well aware of the applications of his Chronokinesis, and uses all aspects of it to his advantage. Matt demonstrates an extreme desire to protect those he is close to, leading to his assumed death during the Friendship Gulag incident in which he willingly let himself be blown up so that his friends might escape. He survived this incident but was thought dead for a month. When the Anomaly returned, he immediately jumped to protect Gaige, his girlfriend, and aided the Vault Hunters in defeating Caine when he attacked Sanctuary with his Gemini Vault Hunter allies. The Anomaly is very supportive of his friends, but is much wiser than any of them. Due to his connection to Sirens, he has somewhat to a capacious bank of knowledge which he can draw from instinctively to guide his movements and actions. Despite this, he does not underestimate those around him and fully believes that anyone can gain power if they try hard enough and that everyone has the right to experience it. When Gaige began to question her place as a Vault Hunter, Matt supported her extensively and ensured her that she deserved to be a Vault Hunter more than anyone, and that she had more than proven herself. Matt does not like unnecessary deaths, and only kills when its the only option or to people he truly believes deserves it. He kept a similar philosophy to Krieg, in that he would not kill the undeserving, although the Anomaly admits that sometimes he killed people that perhaps did not deserve it, which is likely what fuels his drive not to execute people. Similarly, Matt disapproves of those who callously allow their lackeys and lower ranks to die and throw themselves into fatal circumstances which they would not involve themselves with to begin with. He strongly believes this to be cowardice, and that you should always be willing to get your hands dirty, and respect those who gave their lives for you. Despite this, Matt exhibits exceedingly homicidal and bloodthirsty tendencies towards those he hates, particularly Director McCain and Commander Sharp , who were responsible for some of the most painful moments in his life. When faced with Sharp, after discovering he had murdered his sister, Matt viciously beat him, throwing him through glass and locking him in a tight choke-hold. The Anomaly considered not only executing him, but doing so in the most excruciating way possible. However, he ultimately relented, realising that killing Sharp would only create more problems. Upon the revelation that Director McCain destroyed Darios, and deliberately searched for and murdered Matt's father, the Anomaly became exceptionally unhinged, leading to his crippling of McCain on board the Leviathan. McCain almost died from blood loss alone, but Gaige convinced the Anomaly to help him. Matt is an honourable person, but is by no means perfect and even admits himself that he is severely flawed in personality and psychology. Although he tries to improve it, the Anomaly knows that most of his trauma-induced behaviour is too deeply rooted to be rectified. Powers and Abilities Powers *'Connection to the Infinite:' Matt is a half-Siren, so as such possesses a connection to the Infinite dimension, and is able to tap into it to manifest powers through utilisation, transmission and transference of Infinite energy. **'Chronokinesis:' Through the transmission of red Infinite energy, the Anomaly is able to manipulate the timestream at will around him, while he remains unaffected. He can slow, speed up or even completely stop time at a moment's notice, and was once able to make a tenth of a nanosecond of real time last one second of his time, which was his maximum at the time. Physics during Chronokinesis essentially breaks, somewhat, as Matt's Siren nature allows him to bypass natural laws of science. He can consciously choose the amount of force he exhibits on his surroundings, negate whiplash and friction effects and control the selective timeline of inorganic objects. When he touches an object, it speeds up to his time, and becomes usable in his perception, however, the moment it leaves his touch, it will slow back down again. ***'Selective Control:' After spending four-hundred years in the Infinite, Matt was able to choose who is slowed down by his Chronokinesis, however this is generally instinctive and relegated to only a few people at once. **'Infinite Growth: It is unknown the limits of Matt's powers, if there are any, however, since spending so long in the Infinite, it is likely the Anomaly's current maximum is much higher than 0.1 nanoseconds for every 1 second. It is known he has 4 stages of Chronokinesis, each increasing in power from the previous. This is often signified by the significantly more energy released in the process. **'''Electrokinesis: Usually dispersed using Chronokinesis (although not specific to it), Matt can produce torrents of Infinite lightning, which, at stage 3 of his Chronokinesis yielded around 25 MW of power. The Anomaly can produce much more than this, as he stated himself, although going above stage 3 was too dangerous due to the sheer force of power it released. **'Enhanced Physicality:' While also a product of his military background, Matt's endurance and physical vigour is greatly enhanced by his connection to the Infinite, as he requires inhuman levels of physicality to cope with the rigors of his Chronokinesis. He also draws from the black end of the spectrum of Infinite energy, which serves the purpose of preventing damage to his body or damages to health from using his Chronokinesis. **'Siren Instincts:' Although he is intelligent on his own, Matt draws from the Infinite to bolster his critical thinking and perception of his surroundings, giving him an idea of what to do in certain situations. It even went as far as to put words in his mouth and making him wiser than he would or should seem. At one point, it seemed as though his Siren instincts even granted him precognition, however it was later revealed that this was actually due to Amelia's power as the Dreamer connecting with his brain during dreams and giving him visions to draw him towards the Vault. Abilities *'Genius-level intellect:' Matt is not generally known for being intelligent as he is for being powerful, however he is especially intelligent and in many ways matches or even exceeds Patricia Tannis in technical and scientific expertise. He studied various subjects at Gemini that provided him with an impressive bank of technological, mechanical, and scientific knowledge. He supposedly has an IQ of around 179, but Matt himself claims this was never really confirmed to be accurate as he believed intelligence could not be boiled down to something as basic as a number. *'Otherworldly Understanding: '''Matt presents an unnatural understanding of the world around him, even before he spent four-hundred years in the Infinite. He provides advice and perceptions on the world most would not think of, sometimes to the extent that he can't describe where said thoughts originally came from. Matt is the only known Siren able to use the Infinite to draw from the Eridians' extensive bank of knowledge to provide their perspective on situations. Due to this understanding, Matt can also intake and compute information much faster than ordinary humans, bolstered by his own natural skill to store knowledge. *'Mechanical/Engineering Skill:' Having taken several courses on mechanics at Gemini, the Anomaly picked up an aptitude for mechanics and robotics. However, he is nowhere near as skillful or knowledgeable on robotics as Gaige is. He was able to implement aero-jets into Deathtrap's system, where Gaige couldn't, but this is was simply because he understood and had learnt about specific Gemini technology at the time. If Gaige knew of it, she would've been able to do it herself. *'Expert on the Infinite:' Having been in the Infinite for four-hundred years, Matt has since become an expert on Infinite science and workings of Eridian technology. He is only equalled by his sister in skill, however it can be argued the Anomaly is much more practical in his use of Eridian technology, given his prior technical aptitude and ability to consume information at a quicker rate. Gaige was weary about using Infinite technology without Matt, claiming that she did not understand it as "only Matt really did". This was proven to be true when he could use the Artefact, while others could not, and was able to open Eridian tombs. *'Near-perfect Recall:' The Anomaly has been shown numerous times to have an excellent memory, surprising his allies. He was able to perfectly distinguish the looks of his sister, despite not having seen her in years, and could recall several things he had learnt at Gemini, including some of the obscure details. However, Matt's memory is by no means perfect. After being trapped in the Infinite for four-hundred years, the Anomaly began to forget what Gaige looked like, so subsequently drew a picture of her so he would not forget. Once he returned to Pandora, he also claimed that, after being gone for so long, his brain (working presumably in tandem with the Infinite) had began to slightly blur out the obscure details of events prior to his leaving, although the general outline of events was perfectly clear to him. Weaknesses * '''Chronokinetic Draining:' Despite being very powerful, Matt is still human and thus requires chemical energy to function, and also requires energy to do anything. As a result, the Anomaly depends on his own energy to activate and maintain his Chronokinesis. If he uses Chronokinesis too much, he will be drained and will be too weak to activate it again, and may even cause physical reactions such as vomiting, weak muscles and nosebleeds. This reverts him to a normal human until he regains his strength. Eventually, if he uses Chronokinesis too much, it can kill him. * Drainers: '''Gemini-patented "Drainers" are able to draw out the Infinite energy Matt releases in order to control the timestream, effectively cancelling out his Chronokinesis. Continued drainage of Infinite energy also weakens him, and may even kill him. Although he can bypass Drainers, he can only do this for a short period of time and will double his fatigue immediately afterwards. * '''Telepathic Influence: Due to unknowingly leaving his mind an "open call" for his sister to access over the years, Matt is vulnerable to telepathic attack. While he can identify telepaths in his mind, he is helpless to do anything as he has no telepathic barriers in his mind. Amelia took advantage of this weakness to give him false visions of the future, which ultimately led him into a trap. Equipment * 'ECHOear: '''Matt possesses a Gemini standard-issue ECHOear from his service at Gemini. It functions much like an earpiece, however it is capable of communicating with brainwaves telepathically and also generate an ECHO HUD only seen by the user. He explained that it had a "Class-14 Heads-Up Display"; and a "constant wire-laser connection to the ECHOnet"; along with a "holographic display"; a "multi-petapixel camera"; and finally "DirectC-22" sound drivers. It is unclear what this means exactly or how this squares up to other ECHO products, although it is likely superior due to its Gemini specialisation. It had a high storage capacity and could be used for long ECHO streams, which is what Gaige used it for when the Anomaly gave it to her (before she relinquished ownership back to him when he came back). * '''ECHO ''(formerly): 'Matt also possessed an ordinary ECHO, although he later gave it to the Raiders for use as storage ECHOs. He abandoned use of this later on in favour of his ECHOear, once his ECHOear was upgraded by Gaige. * '''Storage ECHOs ''(formerly): '''Silver in colour, Matt had storage ECHOs, which had large weapon capacity for holding collections of weapons. He used this for the Gemini Armoury so he and Lilith could collect as many weapons as possible. Afterwards, Matt gave them to the Raiders for use. * '''Midnight Coat: '''Matt is rarely seen without his beloved midnight blue coat, which has extremely large pockets where he keeps multiple supplies. The coat is incredibly old, so much so that some of the stains are not washable, although the Anomaly believes the stains add character to it so wouldn't want to wash it out anyway. Matt's coat is armoured on the shoulders, through old, blue-painted shoulder plates, which is capable of deflecting bullets back at enemies. The coat itself is also bullet resistant, though not bulletproof, and while not flammable, is vulnerable to lasers. His mobility is not restricted while wearing the coat, however it may occasionally block his view. * '''Indigo Coat: '''Occasionally, especially during ''No One Else, ''Matt instead wore a darker purple coat, with black shoulder plating. Its dimensions are exactly the same as his midnight coat. * '''Military-grade lined cotton shirt: '''Matt wears a general-style lined cotton shirt, much like Roland's, except with a black pigment. The Anomaly wore the majority of his armour padding on this shirt, which greatly helps to protect him during combat when his shields are down. He also has an alternative blue version of this shirt that he wears with his indigo coat. * '''Cargo pants: '''Matt wears industrial cargo pants to protect himself during combat. * '''Trainers: '''The Anomaly prefers to wear trainers for running around in during firefights. * '''C-Digistructor(s): '''Described as a "mini-New-U machine", a C-Digistructor is a device capable of scanning the form of an organic lifeform and allow the user to assume its appearance and equipment in the matter of seconds. Matt carried two in case he needed a spare, given how prone it was to run out of charge. It had a pre-installed voice modulator that altered the user's voice virtually according to the form they were currently in. This could be turned on or off. * '''Bypass set: '''Consisting of an input device and receiver USB-based device, a Bypass set could hack almost all technology to bypass it, typically for electronically locked doors. It had a universal access, so could implemented into any piece of technology, regardless of if it had a port or not. This could be used to lock or unlock doors, or even corrupt electronic locks. Matt used this feature to lock the door to the Friendship Gulag to reduce the force of the bomb in its bunker and to prevent Gaige from attempting to go back in and rescue him. It glowed green if the door was unlocked, red if locked, and orange if corrupted. Category:Vault Hunters Category:Characters